


when we were kids

by AgentVilardo (TheWarehouseLikesYou), punkrockbadger



Series: don't you dare be my baby [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-29
Updated: 2014-05-29
Packaged: 2018-01-26 23:37:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1706747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWarehouseLikesYou/pseuds/AgentVilardo, https://archiveofourown.org/users/punkrockbadger/pseuds/punkrockbadger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She wanted to add like when we were kids to the end of it. Like when nothing mattered. Like when happiness was as easy as breaking into a run in the forest behind the Potter Manor. </p><p>She knew that James knew. She knew he always knew.</p>
            </blockquote>





	when we were kids

“My parents are driving me battier than a cat on catnip. What are you doing? Want to go on an adventure?”

Emmeline sighed, looking down at the parchment, tapping her quill on the desk as always. The ink stain was only getting bigger, no matter how many times her mother fixed it with another cleaning spell. She wanted to add like when we were kids to the end of it. Like when nothing mattered. Like when happiness was as easy as breaking into a run in the forest behind the Potter Manor. 

She knew that James knew. She knew he always knew. Sealing the envelope, she released her owl from her cage, then sent her out into the night. Staring after her for a moment, she tried to count the stars in the sky, like she had done on so many occasions with Jim in the backyards of their houses.

James groaned as he heard a tapping at his window. He'd let Squid, his owl, out for the night a few hours ago and wasn't expecting him home until morning. He tumbled out of his bed, already missing the warmth of sheets as he stumbled over to the window, but the sight of Emmi's owl shocked him into full awareness. 

"Hey there." He waved at it before unlocking the window to let it in, quickly untying the letter from its leg. "Emmi, huh? This late?" 

He read through the letter, grinning as his eyes found the word adventure, and grabbed some parchment out of the second drawer of his desk, scribbling a quick always before tying it to the cord around the owl's leg. "Run along home, then. I'll be right behind you."

The owl cheeped once and then took off, leaving James to dig his broom out of his closet and follow. Vance Manor wasn't too far, considering they were about as close to neighbors as you could get, so she'd likely be expecting him immediately.

She had propped herself up against the wall behind her bed, trying to finish the last of her thrice cursed etiquette homework. Her mother was still trying to shove these classes down her throat. Surely she was too old for it. 

A knock on the window made her bolt upright. She all but threw her books out of the way as she scrambled to her feet. Her owl was waiting at the window, with a new note attached to it. She grinned as she opened it, seeing James' messy scrawl across the page. She knew he would be right behind. Trying to find a pair of pants in her mess of a room was nearly impossible. Her broom was already out and waiting, leaning against the wall next to her dresser.

"Hey there, pretty lady." Sure enough, James was barely a minute behind, climbing through the window as stealthily as possible to avoid alerting her parents. He'd thankfully thought to pull on a shirt before flying over. Granted, said shirt was both inside out and backward, so there couldn't have been much effort put in, but to expect perfection would be to deny James his fun.

She looked up from her drawers, corduroy pants still not buttoned. She broke into a grin. "James Potter. Aren't you a sight for sore eyes."

She crossed the room to hug him, slipping her arms around his neck. "Wait." she could feel the tag of his shirt on her throat. "Your shirt's on backwards, you idiot."

"You want me to strip for you?" James waggled his eyebrows, cocking his hip in an attempt to look more seductive. "Baby, you didn't even have to ask." He noticed the pile of etiquette homework on her bed and walked over to read through it. "What's going on in the pits of hell? How many forks?"

She shoved him lightly. 

"I know, you're always so eager to take off your clothes." She sat cross legged on her bed, pushing the books further away from her. "Something like four. Who even needs that many bloody forks? It's so tedious. Outside in, inside out, small spoons, big spoons, three prong four prong. I'm losing my marbles." She sighed and flopped onto her back. "I just wanna...you know. Do something."

"Well understood." He saluted cockily, stripping off his shirt to turn it inside out and back around. "Sounds horridly boring. I'm lucky the boys' version is literally 'How Not To Step On Toes For Dummies'."

"I wish," She scoffed. "I didn't even know there were this many things that the lady of the house had to worry about. Maybe I can just hire someone to do it later in life. If I get married off to some rich prat."

"If you don't marry a rich prat, you won't have to deal with that many forks." He shrugged. "Lucky you, Emmi, Sirius went and got himself disowned so your only choice is poor, sad me. Of course, seeing as I've practically got Evans, you're in a bit of a tight spot."

She laughed, feeling her stomach tighten. "You've only "gotten" Lily by some sick twist in fate. You got lucky, kiddo." She smacked him in the arm. "My parents keep parading boys in front of me. It's exhausting. If I have to wear one more disgusting light blue dress, I swear to Merlin I'm going to set it on fire."

"Pete'll wear 'em." He grinned. "Oh, definitely beyond lucky. She's so far out of my league that my league isn't even visible from where she is."

She turned on her side to look at James. 

"At least you're aware of that fact," she joked. "Lily is a great girl. Her determination is ridiculous. I think it's something about not coming from magic all your life, like we have. It's so new to her. To us it’s just...part of everything. She's not like that." She scooted a bit closer to her friend. "It's a bummer about Sirius, though. Out of all the men I'm being forced to choose from, he probably would have been my frist choice."

"New ideas, though. We need those." He chuckled. "If you look at some of that stuff that the Muggles have got, they're way, way ahead of us!"

"Yeah." He nodded. "I'm surprised he didn't wake up when I left. He's currently on my floor."

"Sirius is sleeping on your floor?!" She sat up, looking at her friend in disbelief. "He knows we have extra rooms here, right? I'm sure my parents wouldn't... Well, no, that's a lie. But if we cast a charm on the room. They wouldn't even look."

"Nah, we gave him a room." He sighed. "He's just being an obstinate git, is what he's doing. Figure he doesn't want to be alone, so I let him."

"Oh okay. That's better. I was worried for a second. Can't have anyone out in the cold." She laid back down, this time putting her head on his leg. When her hair fell in her face, she brushed it back stubbornly. "How'd your parents take it? Sirius staying with you, I mean."

“Dad and Mum both cried a lot and sandwich hugged him for near on an hour." He rolled his eyes. "It was disgustingly parent like. Just what he needed, I'm 

She laughed, pushing her hair back again. "Yeah. The boy needs some functionality in his life."

"Yeah." He nodded. "Mum hasn't been feeling quite right lately. Pushed the mood up a little to have Sirius to focus on rather than weird silence."

She was quiet for a second. She could feel her books under her legs. "You wanna go somewhere?" She asked, sitting up. "I'm bored. Let's go."

"Yeah." He nodded urgently and grabbed his broom. "Let's get out there, yeah."

She stood and grabbed her broom, then tied her hair back in a ponytail before pushing the window back up and sitting on the ledge. "Bet I can beat you to the forest," She taunted, then pushed off the sill, falling for a split second, relishing the drop in her stomach, before she was gaining altitude at what other's might consider an alarming rate.

He cursed and kicked off, matching her speed in seconds as he tried to gain any distance on her. "Someone's been busy practicing."

"I don't have anything else to do. All my hobbies are 'unladylike' according to mum," she called, enjoying how the wind was whipping her pony tail against her back. "I only get to practice at night, and since I can never sleep, this is better than anything."

"I'm sure it would be. Dad's got me hitting the books instead." He rolled his eyes. "Something about how I've got to be cultured if I want to do well in life. Join the Ministry, he means, but still."

"Wait, you're telling me you can read?!" She faked shock, clutching a hand to her heart.

He grumbled something or the other, the muttered stream of words sounding not sounding intelligible in any way.

She laughed, then peeled off, dropping down towards the tree tops, letting out a squeal and kicking her heels a little.

He sped up until he was right beside her, executing risky dives just to get a rise out of her. "You're not the only one who's been practicing!"

She looked at him briefly, a huge smile splitting her face. To try and scare him, she dropped like a stone down into the trees, then started to weave in and out of the branches, having to slow her pace a little so she wouldn't crash.

He rolled over in the air, barely missing clipping the back of his head on a tree branch, and whooped in celebration. "This is the life, yeah?"

"Yeah!" She hollered through the trees, nearly colliding into a tree trunk. Leaves on the forest floor were picking up around her as she sped over them. Finally seeing a clearing, she jetted upwards, popping up above the tree line

He caught onto her plan and angled his broom upward to lead into the sharp ascent, leveling out above the trees. The sky had started to turn a warm pink while they were busy with their games and he cursed under his breath when he remembered this meant dawn was approaching.

She kept climbing until she was feeling the damp air of clouds around her, soaking into her clothing. She was laughing so hard her eyes were watering. "CATCH UP WITH ME JIM!"

"Emmi..." He mumbled before following her up. She had more balls than any guy he knew, and sometimes, that didn't quite catch up to her quickly enough.

She kept climbing, air thinning. She took a deep breath, then looked over her shoulder to see where James was. Grinning when she spotted him, she turned around and gunned it straight for him, heading straight for the ground. She was laughing when she passed him, so close she almost knocked him.

He barely dodged her on her approach, whistling loudly when she sped past him. "Lucky me, yeah?"

She pulled up to stop the broom, hovering to look at her friend. "Lucky you," she grinned, winking.

"Yeah." James grinned, reaching over to punch her shoulder lightly. "Lucky us, more like."

Emmeline edged a little closer to him on her broom, smiling. "Lucky us."


End file.
